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bobwhite

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Our troop is dealing with a committee chairman who thinks only his ideas are worth following, and while most are from the book, he also refuses to listen to some program suggestions that are also from the book. We have mixed parental support and are loosing scouts because of his overbearing manner. Suggestions?

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The Committee Chairman is not the "Boss" and it is not his troop. It is the Boys Troop and the Parents Troop. All you have to do is outvote him. If he refuses to follow the decision of the majority then he needs to step down.

 

At this point someone needs to have a nice long talk and explain to him that there is a problem. Perhaps that might just do the trick, if not, well then it becomes sticky and you may need to have him removed from the position if progress can not be reached.

 

Has he taken Scoutmaster fundamentals training? If not, the committee needs to ask him to do so. Training classes generally do a good job of affecting such narrow conceptions. As I understand it, the program is the domain of the Patrol Leaders Council and the Scoutmaster. The Committee only reviews, approves it and supplies background support (KEY WORD "BACKGROUND!) If your Committee Chairman is in control of the program something is very wrong.

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Mike is pretty much right on the money, here. Having the ENTIRE committee attend Basic Leader Training (Scoutmaster Fundamentals) is very important. The entire group should understand the program elements on the same level.

 

If you get to the unfortunate position of having to ask the CC to leave, or forcing him out, there's power in numbers. The CC should understand that it's not just one or two adults who find his direction unacceptable and not as the program should be, but it's ALL the other adults. That may help. And ALL of this should be handled by the Troop Committee. I've seen unfortunate circumstances where the Troop Committee tried to rely upon the Scoutmaster to take the reigns and force the issue(s). That's not his job. The Troop Committee has to handle this.

 

It would be best, of course, if the ENTIRE committee could get together and find training ASAP, as a group, so they all get the same information together. If training is not available in oyour area in the near future, call your Council office and talk with you District Executive. Ask him for help. These folks are paid to help the units in their districts with problems like this. They may even be able to come to your troop and provide you with some basic training concepts just to clear the air and make sure your CC understands what his role really is (and is NOT).

 

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I have a request.

 

Bobwhite when you solve your problem please post the the results and what you did to to address the issue. Most of the time folks ask for help and we don't get to hear about the resolution of the problem. It would really help other Scouters when they run into potentially ugly situations to hear how others solved them.

 

I personally could have used some of that kind of input when I became Scoutmaster. I was Committe Chairman and had to remove and take the place of the current Scoutmaster. No easy task when you are only 27 and the only adult leader without any kids at all, much less any in the troop. Luckily it all worked out well and the former Scoutmaster is still an active and valued member of the troop. If I had the example of someone elses situation I might have avoided the bruised egos and feelings that we had to deal with.

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Hi Mike and all you others who have been kind enough to respond,

Perhaps narrowing this trouble down to a couple of specific issues would help. In keeping with the adult association goals of scouting, which we both agree on, I think our main difference is in implementation. I was seeking to monitor the troop and make certain that correct information was being given by the youth instructors and that adults would only work to help the instructor prepare. Our CC wants adults to do most of the instruction and be directly involved. I think part of his motivation is to get the parents more a part of the weekly meetings, but the boys learn by teaching as much as by being taught and that the CC's model is more in line with the Cub program than with scouting.

Another issue was his decision to cancel our participation in a district event because he felt we were unprepared. I maintained that the boys were learning just what it takes to be prepaired and that perhaps a less than spectacular performance at one event might just provide the motivation to get really ready for the next one.

Since my original posting I have been removed from Scoutmaster and am now back on the committee with no job, although I offered to take one of several. Lest I sound like sour grapes, I am glad to pass on the mantle to the old friend who now has the job and perhaps will be able to enlighten the remaining parents as to their options from this vantage point better than before. I am also looking for another troop in need of leaders, as my two sons, who are both Eagles and now adults are dissatisfied with the situation and it may work better for us to simply find a troop that is working along the lines we understand to be inline with scoutings goals and organizational ideals. Thanks for all the discussion.

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Bobwhite,

 

Too bad the situation around you has disintegrated. In the end, it may all be for the best.

 

As to the first of the two main concerns you shared in your posting, perhaps I can pass along something that might assist those who are still struggling with the situation.

 

A few years ago, our troop was in need of a new Scoutmaster, and was having a devil of a time getting someone to step in. Having served for many years in that position, I was asked to come out of retirement and take over for a while. Upon getting back into the 'big' chair, I saw two things. First, there was a definite lack of skills proficiency, and understanding of and use of leadership skills by the Scouts, and second, there was a growing appreciation for these facts, and a desire to jump in a 'fix' things on the part of many adults. There was also a real lack of trained adults volunteers, both in and out of uniform.

 

Working with the Troop Committee, I came up with a plan to get things back on track, and use the energies of the concerned adults, but all within the guidelines of the Scouting program. The first phase of the two year program was to have adult volunteers completely take over the teaching process in the troop. This provided us with two things. First, it gave us control over the things being taught, and insured that the information was all correct and within the program. Secondly, it gave the Scouts good role models to follow (which they would be given ample opportunity to do). The second phase of the two year program was to pull the adults out of the process, step by step, allowing the older and more proficient Scouts to first assist, and then take over, in the teaching process. We used the same model for leadership skills, and three JLT's, during that same period. Eventually, the adults were all pulled back to their 'support of the Scoutmaster' roles, watching, and lending assistance where the Scoutmaster felt necessary, or where the PLC asked for it. At the same time, and within this model, many adult volunteers saw the need to get trained, and I encouraged them to do so, whether or not they ever intended to wear the uniform. Within this two year effort, many adults came to realize just what the program entailed, not just what they felt the Scouts should be taught. They also came to understand the responsibilities of all the various Scout (boy) leader positions, and the importance of having Scouts in those positions understand their own roles, their skills, and the value of role models (as they would themselves become role models for the troop).

 

The key to the success of this program was making sure, right up front, that the concerned adults understood the limits of their roles, and the needs of the Troop, Scouting program, and Scouting environment for their services. Everyone was made to understand the goals, and the limits, so they would all be happy with their participation, and the need to step aside when the time came. This all required that I do a little Basic Leader training on my own in the beginning so they would all have level of comfort that I could be happy with at the start. But the effort was worth it.

 

Now, this doesn't mean that we have attained 'Nervana' here. There is still plenty of work to do, and there always will be, for that's the nature of the beast. Which brings me to your second concern, the fear that some adults have that Scouts will fail.

 

Failure is a key ingredient to the success of the Scouting program. Why? Simply put, very few venues in this world allow for a boy to utterly fail at something, and have someone standing right behind him to pick him up and get him right back on trackeither and adult or an older Scoutand help him to understand the failure and learn from it. That's counselling. That's learning. And that's doing it within an environment that provides fun. There's no need to fear a failing grade. There's no need to fear being fired. Scouts learn quite a bit about themselves and life in general from experiences like that within the Scouting world. Not too many other avenues afford boys that kind of opportunity. So a degree of failure for a single Scout, or a group of Scouts, can actually be a good teacher. Adults should not fear that the boys will not succeed at an event, and therefore cancel participation. They learn about their limits by participating in these things. And once those limits are known and understood, they can work to expand those limits. Humans have a limited ability to make each other understand personal limits. By and large, those limits are learned via experience, and experience alone. So let the boys learn.

 

Just be there to pick them backup, and get them back on that trailimmediately.

 

I've rambled enough, but hope this has been of some help. Good luck with your Scouting future.

 

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Bob you said "removed" not resigned. Am I to understand that your troop parents were not behind you? That stinks. Nothing bothers me more than people who insist on making Boy Scout Troops into Cub Packs. (All who take offense to that , sorry, but it's true.)

 

It definately sounds like the CC wants to be Scoutmaster too. Last I heard the CC can't cancel trips. Well, not in our Troop anyway. Sounds like you gave it your all and it's time to move on.

 

I am in total agreement with jmcquillan. I have been through that process before and that is pretty much what we did too and it works well. He is also correct in that it is about a two year process. The situation that he described is the only time I think that the adults should control the program completely. I have a post (or two) in the venture crew section ya'll might want to look at for more info.

 

Thank God others in Scouting share my belief in the importance of failure. Everything I know I screwed up the first time around. Now I know better.....I hope.

 

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Mike,

 

Having been around Scouting for about 16 years or so, I can't tell you how much shear enjoyment it's been watching boys learn through this process in Scouting. And when they finally earn their Eagle, and look you straight in the eye, and thank you for letting them find their own way in the Scouting world, it's at that moment that you know it was all worth the effort, and the darn program works!!!

 

If only the adults would take the time to understand that the adult leader training offered in Scouting makes all the difference in the world. It's only after the training that one realizes how preconceived notions don't always work. There's a proven program out there that works wonders when it's allowed to...without any preconceived notions.

 

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Thanks jmc and Mike,

Sounds as if we have similar outlooks and I do appreciate the input. One factor in all this is the fact that the CC is an Eagle and past member of the troop. He is a very organized fellow and very good at aspects of what he does. I think part of the difficulty arose when he drove a couple of scouts off from the troop for what I thought was mildly disruptive behavior and he saw as an impediment to the troop being what he wants it to be. I got the boys to return in spite of repeated rudeness on the CC's part and did council the boys on the importance of "living the Oath and Law". In the long run the CC won out, however. He will only accept a level of behavior and devotion that matches his, although I understand from those who knew him as a scout, he was not always a model citizen then either. When I disagreed with him and maintained that some of the boys whose behavior was farthest from our goals are the ones most in need of scouting, he began to find fault in many thing I did and began to campaign to the parents and other leaders for my removal. The new scoutmaster, while an old friend of mine is more easily manipulated.

I think the instructing issue was mostly smoke for injecting more of his control over daily operations, as the scouts were conducting that part of the program pretty well on their own, in keeping with their current levels of individual commitment. It seems that anytime the CC asked what had gone wrong, if I gave an honest appraisal of the causes, such as too many boys had sports to attend, or chose not to really give an event their all, he said that I was balming everyone but myself. I don't think any adult leader in a voluntary youth activity can do more than provide opportunities and support while trying to motivate. I will continue to try to help as called upon, but will have to recognise that my own two sons are not youth in the troop anymore and have expressed an interest in going elsewhere. Y'all take care.

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